Shared Pillow Tree 共枕樹
Oct 2022
AMID TEARS - DMA MFA Fall Exhibition 2022
p5.js, L-system, evolutionary programming
This work provides a new interpretation of an old Chinese story about love between two young men, Pan Wenzi 潘文子 and Wang Zhongxian 王仲先, who were classmates.
A short version of the story was recorded in 978 C.E. in "Extensive Records of the Taiping Era 太平廣記." In the 1640s, about 660 years later, another writer, Tianran Chisou, expanded the story imaginatively, lengthening the original by 150 fold.
Today, in 2022, almost 380 years later, I am retelling the story once again, converted into a contemporary media art form.
The Story
Wenzi was youthful and good-looking. His contemporaries competed to admire him. Zhongxian heard about Wenzi's beauty and begged Wenzi to be his friend. Wenzi agreed because they were classmates. They fell in love with each other at the first sight. The emotional bond between them was so strong and they lived like a couple. Every night, they shared a quilt and a pillow. Their passions for each other were unbounded. Later, they died on the same day at a young age. Their families were sad and buried them in Luofu Mountain. Suddenly, a tree grew on top of their shared tomb. The leaves, branches, and twigs of the tree hug each other. Their contemporaries were amazed by the tree. They named it shared pillow tree.
《太平廣記 • 潘章》
潘章少有美容儀，時人競慕之。楚國王仲先，聞其美名，故來求為友，章許之，因願同學。一見相愛，情若夫婦，便同衾共枕，交好無已。後同死，而家人哀之，因合葬于羅浮山。塚上忽生一樹，柯條枝葉，無不相抱。時人異之，號為共枕樹。
Namesake
The artwork is inspired by a tree mentioned at the end of the story. After the lovers were buried, a tree grew from their shared tomb. The leaves and branches of the tree embrace one another. People were amazed by the tree and named it the "Shared Pillow Tree."
Fortuity Or Providence?
The concept of fortuity plays a subtle yet significant role in this artwork. A well-known Chinese saying states, "It takes a hundred years of cultivation to share a boat, and a thousand years to share a pillow." This saying expresses gratitude for those special individuals in our lives with whom we share a pillow night after night. In a world filled with people, not all relationships lead to sincere happiness that brings tears of joy to both partners' eyes. When overwhelmed with happiness, one may wonder if their meeting was merely a fortunate coincidence or if it was shaped by divine destiny from previous lives. Therefore, the joyous yet melancholic background music echoes the gratitude for the earthly joy that comes from uniting with a loved one.
In our time, it's arguable that a single person’s life can be just as fulfilling. While sharing a pillow may not carry the same sacredness as it did in the past, we can still express gratitude for the arrival of something we have long desired. The backdrop of rapidly changing letters, where sentences from the story emerge, reflects the idea that something feels incomplete until the right person or opportunity arrives.